October: Slasher/Thriller

Welcome to October's thread! :) Here are a few suggestions given earlier in the year:

Special X series by Michael Slade
The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker
Red Dragon by Thomas Harris
Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin

I also did a quick tag search for thriller and slasher books, if you need some ideas. (The slasher tag does include more movies than books, it seems.)

I'll be reading Dance of Death and The Haunting of Hill House both of which I hope will fit.

I've been slow on my reading lately, maybe I'll pick up a Michael Slade since my mom sent over (almost) all my Special X books recently.

I'm not quite sure what goes in this category. "Thriller" seems to encompass quite a lot! I'm doing a reread of The Haunting of Hill House for Halloween, which is definitely a thriller--I'd put it in my top 5 scariest books of all time list for sure. I'll likely also read The Historian; it is tagged thriller, although I think it is more supernatural?

Thriller is a pretty small tag on that one, but apparently there's vampires? so it could possibly fit. I think "thriller" was just used as a kind of encompassing term for any of the more ...well, things along the slasher type lines that aren't slashers, hahaha. Just, you know, the edge-of-your-seat, fast-paced, adrenaline-pumping OH NO what's coming?! etc sort of deal, not limited to just slashers but, stuff along those kind of lines. ;) But really, the point of these kind of groups/categories is just to have fun and try new things or reasons to pick up old things etc, so if stuff doesn't precisely fit, meh, no bother. ^^

>5 .Monkey.: Gotcha. Well, we'll see if it thrills. :-)

>5 .Monkey.: >6 sturlington: Yes, vampires. I quit halfway through so hope you'll enjoy it better than I did.

>7 majkia: Well, that's encouraging. :-) At least I bought it used.

>2 majkia: Just going by the tags on each book's page, both books qualify, even if "thriller" is itty bitty on The Haunting of Hill House. Meh. This isn't a graded class or anything, so enjoy both! :)

>3 .Monkey.: Same here (on the slow reading). Michael Slade's stuff looks good. :) I hope it's a good read (re-read?)!

>4 sturlington: - >6 sturlington: What Poly said. I think any kind of thrillers--supernatural or whatever--fit just fine. I hope it's a fun read. :) I like vampires, so I may keep that one in mind when I'm out book-shopping, but not right now. I'm still trying to read my own books first.

Btw, would splatterpunk fit in for this month? Looking at the books I had set aside for each month, I had included some splatterpunk titles: Splatterpunks: Extreme Horror edited by Paul M. Sammon and Off Season by Jack Ketchum.

I just used tags to find some ideas off my tbr, as well, so I'm not sure how closely they fit, but a few that came up for me (and at least I'm hoping to read for another challenge as well) include:

- The Cabinet of Curiosities / Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
- The Winter People / Jennifer McMahon
- Dead Ever After / Charlaine Harris

I'm going to guess Charlaine Harris might be the biggest stretch, but it's really about time to finish the series, so it might be my excuse anyway! (Though it's Cabinet of Curiosities that I'm hoping to read for another challenge, so as long as it comes it at my library... I'm on hold for it... that's the one I really want to get to most.)

>10 LibraryCin: You have a good lineup! :) LOL @ I'm going to guess Charlaine Harris might be the biggest stretch. Yeah, I'll have to agree with you there, but I love her Southern Vampire Mysteries series as well (plus True Blood), so I say go for it. ;) I hope your hold comes in soon, too, for Cabinet of Curiosities. I own that one and have been wanting to read that series for awhile. I've heard it's good.

I put aside The Historian about 100 pages in. Not thrilling. Also I think this one is too slow-moving for me right now, and I demand that books over 500 pages be totally absorbing or I will not put in the time. I'm going to go search out something else from the shelves.

Haha, yeah, if they're long it can be real tedious when they're not holding attention!

Books seem bloated these days. Movies are too long too. Is like they feel they have to supersize everything. I don't mind a long page turner, though, like a good Stephen King, but I've about given up on long books otherwise. It's worse when reading on the kindle because you know exactly how much time you have to put into it.

I like books to be long, and don't mind it in movies. It just needs to be well done, is all. If it's not, then yeah, it's a lot more of a drag than a shorter one, feeling all never-ending and whatnot. But if it's good? Then I want it to last!! :D

What I mean is, I don't like it to be long just for the sake of being long. If it's well done, though, the more the better!

I tend to shy away from fat books, just because I also try to fit in so many monthly challenges and the fat ones take longer! If I'm deciding on a library book (whether print or ebook), I don't always know ahead of time if it's a long one or not, though.

I also realized that, if I'm lucky, my hold on Doctor Sleep by Stephen King should come in this month... I think! So, hopefully I'll get to that one, as well. Would be nice to be reading it right around Halloween!

I don't find the big books take longer thing to be true at all, actually. It totally depends on a book's content. I can easily finish a 500pg fast-paced novel in one day (provided I'm not busy ;)), or spend two weeks on 200pgs that aren't doing it for me. All about quality, not quantity! XP (Okay "quality" really doesn't work there since that's only sometimes the issue, often it's simply more factual, or less to my interests, or, you know, but still, you get the point! XD)

>18 .Monkey.: True! That can sometimes be the case. :-)

But, one often doesn't know until one starts the book if that will be the case or not, so it's tougher (for me) to pick up the book to begin with - unless I got it from the library without realizing! If I've done that, I usually am planning to read it for some particular challenge, and I rarely take a book back to the library without reading it first!

I'm also reading The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. I don't know if its a thriller yet but it is creepy. I also have on board that would probably qualify Batman Arkham Asylum, 25th anniversary deluxe edition by Grant Morrison and Dave McKean.

Nice, I love McKean's art, he's fabulous.

I know I'm late for the chat above re: long/short books/movies, but I thought I'd mention I used to love long books when I was younger (middle/high school), especially Stephen King and Anne Rice's stuff. Surprisingly, I had more time back then. But now as an adult, I'm more strapped for time, so I've totally switched--the shorter the better, whether it's a movie or book. But like Monkey mentioned, I have spent months--even years--trying to finish smaller books that just didn't hold my attention; so sometimes smaller doesn't equal a quick read.

I've been really bad about getting my October read(s) started--Splatterpunks: Extreme Horror edited by Paul M. Sammon and/or Off Season by Jack Ketchum. With just a couple weeks left, I doubt I'll get either one finished. But I did start a manga novelization of One Missed Call 1 + 2 by Mayumi Shihou. I may have watched the American remake of it, so I vaguely remember what it was about. However, the manga version is so hard to follow, not to mention all the female characters look alike with the same haircuts; it's not one I'd recommend. I'll still finish volume 2, but I'm no rush to watch the movie now.

I haven't started mine yet either, but it'll only take a day or two, so I'm not worried. :P

I had hoped to start mine this weekend, but I had another I wanted to get to as well. I may set it aside (it's a dtb, whereas Doctor Sleep is an ebook), and go with the ebook while I travel to/from work this week. Either way, I hope to finish DS by next weekend. (I hope to finish both books I'm working on my next weekend!)

I finished Max Havelaar a couple hours ago, so now I will be able to start on Headhunter.

I don't have much of October left but I'll be reading either Misery or Falling Angel. If I hadn't been so busy I would have liked to have read The Man in the Moss, but it's a long book.

>12 sturlington: You put aside The Historian? Good for you! I read it and it was dull, dull, dull. Not nearly well enough written to be that long.

>26 Moomin_Mama: That seems to be the consensus on The Historian. I'm glad to know I'm not missing anything.

I'm starting The Anatomy Murders: Being the True and Spectacular History of Edinburgh's Notorious Burke and Hare and of the Man of Science Who Abetted Them in the Commission of Their Most Heinous Crimes by Lisa Rosner. Love some creepy NF for Halloween.

>23 .Monkey.: I'm glad I'm not the only one. Good luck finishing yours. :)

>24 LibraryCin: Best of luck finishing both books. :) I know how that goes, juggling a couple books at once. But I'm sure you'll get through them.

>25 .Monkey.: Congrats on finishing! :) And again, good luck finishing Headhunter. Eerily enough, I just started Header (similar-sounding title) by Edward Lee yesterday? The day before? *shrugs* Days are starting to blur together. But it's a novella (around 100 pages), so at least I'm certain I'll finish it before Halloween.

Btw, I finished One Missed Call 1 +2 by Mayumi Shihou today yesterday (Monday). Pretty disappointing, as I mentioned above, but it was super fast. That's one big reason why I love manga/graphic novels.

>26 Moomin_Mama: Sometimes it would be nice to pause time for a bit to catch up on books, wouldn't it? ;) Whichever one you go with, I'm sure it'll be good. Those are some nice choices!

>28 luvamystery65: Holy crap that's a long title! :D Agreed: nothing's creepier than nonfiction or true crime.

I read far less yesterday than I was planning, only to pg 70, pff. I kept being distracted by things. Obnoxious nonstop-talking husband, people on another site, food... hahaha.

>30 .Monkey.: Ha! Evil people. Yes, even evil food. ;) I hope your reading's going well now.

I just finished Header by Edward Lee tonight and loved it. (Should I be saying that, considering it's splatterpunk?) Anyway, it's been a long time since I've read anything by him, so this was a nice novella to try. The nasty images and redneck dialect will certainly stay with you. o.o I even went ahead and ordered the movie and I might try the book sequel. We'll see.

Finished last night! Wow I did not remember ANY of that. I mean it had been probably at least 15 years and it's just a thriller, not like a classic that ought to make in impact. But aside of some character names being vaguely familiar, it was completely new. And the ending was definitely a shocker!

The beginning was a little harder to get into, there's a lot of characters in these books, it's a whole squad of investigators in the RCMP so, it makes sense there's a decent handful, and that they need to be introduced in the first book, but eesh it was a lot to take in and keep straight, lol. But after finally getting familiar with everyone, it was a great read. Kept guessing the whole time, lots of these scenes from the past that tie things to the present so that in the end you're left with the fairly complete backstory but done without giving away who it's about, and rating from 1-10 of how hard was it to put down I'd probably give it 7.5-8.

Of course, now I want to go reading all the rest of the series, hahaha.

>32 .Monkey.: I was going to say you could stretch the rest of the Michael Slade books into November, but I'm guessing they're not the light/humorous type. ;) Congrats, btw, on finishing before Halloween! Isn't that fun--re-reading a book/series that feels like you've never read it before? :)

I finished another horror-type art book, but it doesn't really fit into this category of slasher/thrillers: Night Song: Vampire Women of the Crimson Eternal edited by Sal Quartuccio. It was super short (which was a plus and a minus); some of the illustrations were beautiful, while others were only so-so; it was more erotic-oriented than vampiric horror (again, a plus and minus). Recommended if you like mostly female vampire artwork.

Doctor Sleep / Stephen King
4 stars

Danny Torrence (the little boy in The Shining) is all grown up now. He still has a bit of that “shining” in him he had when he was a child, but it's not quite as strong. When Abra gets in touch with him via his mind/the shining when she's just a baby, little does he realize how dangerous this will be for them once she's a teenager.

Another really good book from King. The point of view changed between Dan, Abra and the “bad guys”. I didn't find the “bad guys” POV as interesting, but I did enjoy reading about Dan and learning about Abra and how strong her shining was and what she was able to do with it. I also liked that SK mentioned a character from one of his son, Joe Hill's, books. Not sure it's in the plans, but now I'm interested in Abra when she's all grown up!

>34 LibraryCin: I have yet to read The Shining or Doctor Sleep, but I'm glad DS was good. :) Nice choice, and congrats on finishing your October read!

>35 saraslibrary:. Thank you!

I hadn't thought of it, as I read it, but I looked at other reviews after I wrote mine and one person mentioned that DS could be read without having read The Shining first, and I'd agree. So if you were so inclined you could just read DS. (Of course, The Shining is really good, as well...)

...And the timing actually worked out perfectly. I'd had this one on hold at the library for a few months! It just worked out well that it came in for me to read just before Halloween!

>33 saraslibrary: Oh they're definitely not light/humorous, but they're just thrillers, I'd have no problem reading them all back to back (well aside of the problem of missing one, lol). But I'd rather stretch them out. There hasn't been a new one since 2010 but they've gone 5 years between releases here and there, and it doesn't look like the last one done was written as a series closer, sooo... Plus who knows where the missing one is hiding and if/when mom will find it, I'd have to pause there regardless! So I won't read more than one every couple/few mos, keep the memory fresh enough but plenty of time before I'd hit the end. :P Plus I still need to acquire the last 3 or 4 written. XD

>36 LibraryCin: I'm not sure I would advise reading Doctor Sleep before The Shining. I thought Danny dealing with what his father did was a powerful part of the book, probably better understood by having read The Shining.

It would be interesting to have a third installment focusing on Abra.

Falling Angel - Readable page-turner, with a 50's noir style. Narration is a little corny, the plot is interesting, but it's not as good as the film adaptation (Angel Heart), which was made with a whole lot more style and atmosphere. And sadly, not scary. 3 stars.

>12 sturlington: Pretty much how I felt about The Historian. I gave it a shot but found it lacking.

I've read two Preston/Child books this month and thought them terrific. Dance of Death and Book of the Dead.

The Book of the Dead is one I picked up at a sale, but I can't read it yet since I've read none of the others. blurgh! xP

yeah, especially with the Diogenes trilogy, they have to be read in order.

>39 sturlington: Thanks for mentioning that. It's been so long since I've read The Shining (high school? Which would put it 25+ years ago), so I guess I shouldn't have mentioned it. I was just going off a friend's review!

>42 majkia: I'm listening to Riptide by the two of them. Unfortunately, the audio is not holding my attention much. :-(

>45 LibraryCin: I've probably read The Shining twice but I'm due for a reread, I think. It's been a while for me too.

There's not much of October left but I started The Man in the Moss. So far, so good - I thought I'd struggle with nearly 600 pages of small type but so far it's a brisk read, with short scenes that keep me turning the pages. An ancient sacrifice victim has been found in a peat bog and the locals want him returned, as he may have been warding off evil...

>36 LibraryCin: Ooh, that's good to know, thanks! :) I might do that. I own The Shining, but I haven't read it yet. I guess I figured since I saw the movie, I don't have to read the book. ;)

>37 LibraryCin: That is seriously good timing! :D

>38 .Monkey.: I know how that goes with reading books in sequential order! :D That would drive me nuts, too, missing a book you know you have. I hope you or your mom are able to find that one. And happy hunting for the rest as well. As you said, the series may not be over. :)

>39 sturlington: & >45 LibraryCin: Thanks for the input, you two. :) I might read them in order then.

>40 Moomin_Mama: Bummer about the book, but kudos for finishing it! :)

>42 majkia: Good job! Two books? I'm impressed, especially the size of those. :) Do the Pendergast have to be read in order?

>43 .Monkey.: Ha! I'm in the same boat.

>44 majkia: Oops, I think that kind of answered my question above. :)

>48 Moomin_Mama: Oh, I'm sure you'll be able to finish it. You're a quick reader! Ah, lovely. Sacrifice victims in bogs. ;)

Well there's no chance me finding it from 4000 miles away, haha. I will have to figure out which it is again and see if I can get her to try looking for it. It must be there somewhere! :P

>50 .Monkey.: Hmm, yeah. That's a wee bit out of the way. ;) Best of luck to your mom then.

I didn't manage to fit in a horror novel for October (except for I am Legend, which doesn't fit this month's theme). However, I did finish The Devil's Star by Jo Nesbo, about Inspector Harry Hole's hunt for a serial killer. That book might count as slasher/thriller, even though it's not in the horror genre, and it was certainly scary!

Serial killer hunts are usually at least crossover genres with horror, I'd count it!

>52 mathgirl40: The Devil's Star is up next for me in the Harry Hole series! Glad to hear it was a bit ghastly. Right up my alley.

This is kind of late for October (and not really funny or light for November), but I just found out I can loan my ebook copy of Header by Edward Lee to someone with an email account for 2 weeks. (It's a novella, so it shouldn't take that long.) And yes, it's free to whomever I lend it to. Anyone interested? Let me know. :)

The Man in the Moss - A disappointment, this one. Way too long, the writing wasn't strong enough for such a convoluted plot; I got to know the villagers too late to care for them; set in the real world, there were too many supernatural elements for any of it to be believable; some plot points and clues seemed so random and pointless that I didn't know they were relevant until they were explained away in chunks of expositional dialogue.

On the upside, the plot was interesting, as was the idea, and it was full of Celtic lore. Then again, it just wasn't scary.

2-3 stars (still mulling it over).

>56 Moomin_Mama: Bummer about that one. :( But at least you finished it!

I just finished The Man in the Moss, too, and felt while effective, it could have been a tighter story. I liked the convoluted nature of it though at first I didn't. When the author started tying things together though, I liked the gradual reveal. Too much "As You Know Bob" though, yeah, I agree with that and that it wasn't particularly scary. I rated it 3 stars because I stayed interested even if I wasn't riveted.

>58 Bookmarque: I settled on 2 stars in the end - a tighter, shorter story would have pushed it to a 3 and been a more enjoyable, albeit forgettable, pulp read. Either way I still think my favourite character would be 'Our Sheila' :)

Our Sheila - the eternal bride of Bridlow, always open.

>60 Bookmarque: Every home should have one :)

I think I'm afraid to ask. :)

>62 saraslibrary: No need to ask - Google 'Sheila na gig'.

>63 Moomin_Mama: *snort* I kind of thought that's the direction it was going in. I found mostly stuff for "Sheela na gig," but I think I get it. Or rather, it's permanently imprinted in my mind now, thanks. ;)

>64 saraslibrary: I think it's just me - no, I KNOW it's just me - but I can't look at those images of Sheila na gigs without thinking that they'd make fun cookies! I have no idea why... maybe I've seen them before?

Joking aside, in The Man in the Moss, Our Sheila is above the church entrance, and one of the characters thinks of entering the church as like going back into the womb. I thought there was something lovely about that idea; it elevates Sheila to more than just your typical fertility symbol.

>65 Moomin_Mama: LOL! Ok, now I can see them making funny cookies. And now you have me googling Sheila cookies*. :D To me, it looks more like a funny-looking E.T. trying to insert some object up her bum. But I think it depends on the statue, because some are more detailed.

*ETA: Oh, I just found a gingerbread Sheila na gig. Maybe that is the one you saw?

I can't imagine a Sheila statue above a church entrance, fiction or not. (Was it a real church?) I guess that goes to show what a conservative, anti-female religious upbringing I had. :) But going back to something safe and warm does sound lovely, though I tend to think of caves or my bed covers when I want that "womb" feeling.

>66 saraslibrary: There are churches over here with Sheila na gigs, although not a lot; they are associated with areas with strong celtic backgrounds, such as the West Country.

No, I didn't see that gingerbread Sheila, but looks like someone had the same idea as me! It must be my weird imagination...